TOPIC: F:ATties Five Favorites - Ameritrash

F:ATties Favorite Five is a series of forum threads, one per category, where every F:AT user can post their five favorite games in the appropriate category.

The threads will be sticky'd for future reference. So users are encouraged to update their lists using the EDIT function when they need to be changed. Therefore it would be preferable that posts commenting on someone else's list go somewhere else to make reading the lists easier as the thread gets longer, but that won't be enforced.

Lists don't need to be in any specific order. Its hard enough narrowing things down to five favorites. And obviously you can put less than five games, but please don't put more than five.

So if this is Five Favorite AmeriTrash games, here is my list, revised as of 2/14/11 1/02/12:

1. Arkham Horror - Despite being forced to play this too much in the last year by well-meaning friends, this remains my all-time favorite game. The mythos cards function like punch cards for a cardboard computer that generates the illusion of a great interactive story.

2. Death Angel - This game manages to distill the greatness of every edition of Space Hulk down into an amazingly compact and affordable game despite having a completely different rule set. Unique mechanics combine with familiar ones to generate a tense and challenging game every time.

3. The Hills Rise Wild - This is the best Ameritrash game that most people will never get to play. It's a nice, clean miniature combat system featuring the Cthulhu mythos, degenerate hillbilly cultists and a dark sense of humor.

4. Fury of Dracula - Hide and go seek across Europe, with Dracula hiding and some main characters from the Bram Stoker novel in pursuit. The combat system is kind of Rock-Paper-Scissors with weapons, but the best part is the hidden movement system.

5. Cosmic Encounter - One of the two games that inspired Richard Garfield to create Magic: the Gathering (the other was Wiz-War). Only CE is better than Magic because it is multi-player and fun for almost anybody.

possible contender: Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery - I haven't gotten to play it yet, but I am extremely impressed by the overall package, the minis, the dice, the board, the cards and especially the rules. Looks like an amazing mix of combat, negotiation, auction, gambling and hardcore backstabbing.